A More Permanent Solution
by past is today
Summary: Third installment of Nico and the Creepypastas which addresses the issues of afterlife and includes scps.
1. Reunion

Toby was going to visit his mother, he had wanted to stay away for her own safety but he needed her now he really did. Things were wrong right now, Nico had been fighting with his father a lot and Toby knew it was about him even though Nico had been trying to protect him from it. He had seen it in the way Nico looked at him sometimes, sad and scared for him and he'd overheard some of the fighting to when it didn't take place in the underworld.

Nico was afraid for him, of what would happened when he died because Nico didn't want to be separated from him when they could die any day really. He was arguing that he had done enough in his lifetime that was good that he should be able to take Toby with him into the gardens. There was president for it, Hazel had given up her place in the gardens to take he mother out of the fields of punishment and they'd both gone to the fields. Well she'd done less then Nico had so why couldn't he transition most of his good deeds to Toby?

The answer the gods were giving was that Toby had done a lot more bad things then Hazels mother had too so it wasn't that simple. He wasn't sure his mother could help at all but she could listen to his fears because before Nico he'd never really thought about what would happen to him after he died but now it terrified him. He had never felt pain so he had no tolerance to it at and he didn't know how he would manage. Even if he died now and ended up in the fields of punishment and Nico managed to get him out quickly the damage might already be done and Toby would be fucked up in the head instead.

He and Nico had been together for years now, Nico was about 18 and Toby was 21, way past both of their 'best by' dates. They were living on borrowed time with no way of knowing when it would run out and even now being away from Nico for just a day to see his mom was stressing Toby out. What if today was the day the clock ran out for one of them and they weren't together? Nico was going to argue with his father again, what if something went wrong? What if Hades got to mad and vaporized Nico?

Toby sighed and leaned his head against the glass on the window which he couldn't tell whether cool or warm, he assumed cool. He watched the trees pass by and a few monsters from Nico's world, which showed some interest because Toby smelled like Nico, but they realized Nico wasn't actually there and didn't attack. The bus pulled in to the stop closest to his mothers new home and he spotted her already there waiting for him.

He smiled, once a mother always a mother and whenever he called and told her he needed help she was there for him. He would never stop being grateful to her for being there for him through everything even though he was objectively a bad person. He got off the bus quickly since he didn't have any luggage at all to gather up, Nico was coming to get him the same evening so there was nothing to bring. He ran across the parking lot and hugged her hard and she hugged him back hard too and they stayed that way for a minute as they always did on the rare occasions that they saw each other.

"I brought sandwiches so we could just sit on the hood of the car and talk if you want, or on the grass." Connie Suggested and Toby nodded so she got out a basket an they went and sat on the grass. "Alright, so what's wrong?" Connie asked once they were both settled on the grass and Toby looked down trying to think of where to start.

"You're still Christian right?" Toby asked and his mother nodded looking confused and Toby started fidgeting with his hands as he thought about how to say what he was feeling, "I'm going to hell." He said bluntly suddenly and his mothers jaw dropped a little and she looked like she wanted to argue but couldn't think of anything to say. "Don't argue it because I know I am, Nico's one of the sons of the judge, not the one in the sky the other one, and he's been arguing with his dad for, I think years now about saving me from the flames but he won't agree.

"I know you might not believe it but Nico's coming to get me after this and he can prove it, he's planning to show you some of his powers. But the other thing you've got to know is Nico isn't evil and neither is his dad like Christianity says. He punishes bad people he doesn't actually do much of the tempting or anything. Nico works on earth with spirits who choose to stay behind, the work he does helps everyone and he's been good all his life, so good, he's helped save the world many times and there's president of people transferring good deeds to those they love to get them a better afterlife but he's not being allowed to do that for me and I mean I can't understand why.

"He doesn't talk to me about the higher worlds cause I wouldn't understand anyway but I can tell and I know him well enough to know what he's doing. I want to help but there's nothing I can do and I know nothing, at the end of the day I'm just a human and he's so much more. And I'm living on borrowed time now you know that, I could die any day and if Nico can't make a deal with his father we could be separate forever and I don't want to lose him. I never thought about this before I just did what I wanted but now looking back I wish I hadn't because if it doesn't work not only will we be separated but Nico won't be able to go home because he'll know that somewhere there I'm suffering."

He took a bite of his sandwich so his mother wouldn't feel pressured to answer before she was a ready and she took a quiet bite of hers too. The silence stretched between them as Connie tried to process what Toby had just said and think of how to reply.

"I wish I had some motherly wisdom to share Toby but this is beyond my life experience and knowledge." She admitted with a sigh when she was half way done her sandwich putting it down on her leg and turning to look at Toby sorrowfully. Toby felt almost guilty because of course she couldn't help and now she would just worry, unconsciously he started picking at his hands and his mother laid one of her hands over his before he could make himself bleed. "You trust Nico don't you? I hope you wouldn't have stayed with him so long if you didn't. Trust that he'll succeed and protect you."

Toby relaxed a little and nodded, he did trust Nico more then almost anyone, he trusted Nico with his life he could trust Nico with his afterlife. He was more worried about Hades though, he could remember overhearing Nico and Hades talking in that church in Portugal "Even if it's that.. _Toby_ boy who makes you happy." He'd sounded so contemptuous Toby couldn't help but think that Hades would love to through him in the fields of punishment.

"His father doesn't like me at all though, Nico is the 'best' child he's had in centuries and I think he thinks I'll corrupt Nico and I'm not trying to." He said and his mother shrugged.

"Well if Nico is the best shouldn't his father trust him about you?" Connie asked and Toby sighed and shook his head, she didn't really get it but that wasn't really a surprise.

"He thinks he knows best, he'll always think he knows best. That's just how immortals are really." Toby explained tiredly and his mother hugged him tightly.

"I wish there was more I could do honey, I want to protect you from everything but this is so far above my head I don't even know what to say. When I first met him we had a vague talk about some of this stuff and he promised he'd protect you. If his father doesn't have faith in him I will, I believe he'll keep his word and protect you." She said fiercely and Toby leaned against her and relaxed. Right, Nico was so much stronger then Toby that there was nothing he could do besides trust and have faith. The same way he had faith that the murders Slender had him commit were for a higher purpose of some sort.

"You're right mom." Toby said, he felt a lot better about it now even though they hadn't really come to any sort of solution. This was something far, far out of Toby's control, the best he could do was stand right behind Nico and support him, maybe duck in front of Nico to take a blow if he had to. Long story short Toby is, and has always been a the mercy of powers beyond his control and at least now he has a couple of those powers in his corner. He'll believe in them as hard as he can because he's been raised to think that belief and prayer can make a difference.

The rest of the day is spent in much more light fashion until the end of the day when Toby guided his mother to a specific clearing in the woods. It was a interesting time getting there, with Toby first directing his mother as they drove and then guiding her on a walk through the woods.

"Toby why are we going there?" Connie asked curiously as she ducked a branch, it was a testimony to how much she trusted her son that she was willing to walk blindly into the woods with him even though he was a known killer.

"I promised I'd prove the things I told you earlier. Don't tell me I don't have too, we both know I've suffered from delusions in the past so you can't take something that crazy at face value. We're going to meet Nico and his sister Hazel here soon. Hazel is.. well she's apparently the most powerful white witch in hundreds of years and she'll be able to help you see things humans usually can't see. Just briefly though because we don't want you to be a target, it's to late for me but I can defend myself so that's okay." He holds a branch out of the way so Connie can walk into the clearing and then Toby follows.

"Yep this is the right place." He said looking around and then walking around a little to find the smooth rocks sunk into the ground.

"How do you know?" Connie asked curiously, looking around, it just looked like any other clearing to her.

"This place is a really really old graveyard. See these stones? They're worn down tomb stones, this is one of Nico's favourite places to sleep. The dead here watch over him and keep him safe, I think it's one of the few places he feels actually safe so it's where we're doing this." Toby explained and his mother looked a little nervous but nods and then toby takes a deep breath time to mention something else he's been putting off.

"Mom, would you like to see Lyra again?" He asked and Connie gave him a sharp look.

"Of course I would but that's impossible, she's in heaven now." Connie said sounding a little aggressive which Toby did not like but understood but he shakes his head.

"She is but she's still attached to this world because of us so Nico's called her for me so I could talk to her. It was so nice to see her again. If you want we thought maybe that's how he could prove his powers to you, if not there are tons of other things he or his sister can do." Toby said and waited anxiously for a answer from his mother who looked like she was having some trouble comprehending what Toby had just said. Maybe they should have started with something smaller, reanimating mouse skeletons and putting on a puppet show like Nico had been doing for Sally lately.

"Oh.. Okay if he can really do that and she'll go back to paradise afterwards then yes, yes I'd like to see her again." Connie said finally and Toby smiled and hugged her, very relieved that she'd accepted it. She still seemed unsure though, like she wasn't going to get her hopes up because she wasn't sure. She probably didn't want to get her hopes up to high incase it failed, Toby understood and wasn't hurt or anything.

They only had to wait a few minutes before Nico and Hazel appeared, walking out of the deeper shadows. Even though the clearing seemed to be empty to Toby and his mother the two underworld siblings seemed to be having some trouble picking their way over to the them.

"What are they doing?" Connie asked Toby softly as the siblings stopped to apparently make small talk with the air while trying to get around the invisible person as quickly as was polite.

"They can both see ghosts remember? This place is probably chalk full of them and all excited to see them. We should go meet them." Toby said taking his mothers hand and then led her over to his boyfriend and the witchy sister. As they reached them Hazel had to slap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing and even Nico's mouth quirked up into a smile. "What is it?" Toby asked in confusion and Nico looked apologetic.

"Sorry you just walked through a elderly spirit named William and he is very disgruntled about it. It's sort of funny, you know they can't see you you know they weren't trying to offend." Nico directed somewhere to the left and Toby gave a sort of helpless shrug in his mothers direction who was looking even more confused.

"Alright we should get started now shouldn't we." Hazel said firmly, it wasn't really a question and no one argued with her. Nico carefully shepherded toby and Connie into the middle of the clearing giving Connie a comforting look as Hazel rolled up her sleeves and started walking around the clearing. As she walked she moved her hand like she was trailing it through water and a ring of mist began to form around them.

"What's she doing?" Connie asked Nico in a hushed tone as she watched Hazel wrk with wide eyes.

"She's calling the veil to her, there's a veil that keeps humans from seeing the other worlds that interact with yours and if I tried to show you my powers while it was active you wouldn't see anything. Hazel has the power to manipulate it which is why I brought her, she can lift the veil off your eyes temporarily and let you see the truth. Then when we're done she can lower it again so you won't have to deal with the reality of the world all the time since that can be dangerous." Nico explained without bothering to hush his voice, he knew this was easy for Hazel.

"Oh.." Connie sounded and watched as hazel made a few more circles and started to look rather alarmed as her circles started to unveil the figures of people around them. Nico didn't seem to notice the change but when he saw the look on Connie and Toby's faces he seems to figure out what's happening.

"Don't worry, they've been here the whole time. They're the souls of the people in this graveyard who decided to stay and enjoy the world from beyond death as well as in life. No one here is angry or anything, I've helped everyone who wanted to move on. Everyone here wants to be here and they're all wonderful people." He said smiling around at the people who smiled back at him.

"Can you hear us now?" A elderly woman asked and Connie made a sort of squeaking nose in response. "You have nothing to fear sweetie, Nico is very dear to us here, he brings us news of the world and tells us stories from time to time and we make sure he's safe when he's here. You're friends of his so you'll be safe here too we promise." She assured them and Connie took a deep breath before nodding and giving a slightly shaky smile.

"Okay.. okay thank you." She said taking measured slow breaths in a effort to stay calm as she looked around at the dozen or so ghosts around them.

"Okay now that that's done did Toby ask you about who you wanted to see?" Nico asked glancing back at them but it was Toby who answered.

"She does want to see Lyra again." Toby answered giving his mothers hand a squeeze as Nico gave him a look and nodded.

"Alright, I'll send out the call, it may take a bit for her to answer. I would have called earlier but I wasn't sure and.. I guess I didn't want you to think it was instantaneous. The dead have their own agency so they can answer me or not as they like." Nico said and then went to the center of the clearing and sat down to call Lyra's spirit.

As they waited Hazel came to join them standing with them, she reached into her shoulder and pulls out a bottle of water. "Want something to drink?" She asked with a odd smile though it fell when Connie shook her head. "Oh come on indulge me, it's my favourite party trick." Hazel said with a little pout, she seemed to be trying to distract Connie from wondering and fretting about if Nico would succeed.

"Alright sure I'll have something to drink." Connie agreed looking back at Hazel who's little smile returned, her gold eyes shimmering.

"Okay, what do you want it to taste like?" She asked smiling wider as Connie's eyebrows furrowed. Toby smiled, he'd experienced this trick of Hazels before, she'd been thrilled when she figured out how and had showed it off to everyone she could.

"What do you mean? It's water, it'll taste like water." Connie said and Hazel replied with a 'ah' face and holds up a finger like a performer, she was having fun.

"It would but how my 'magic' works is I can fool your senses into believing something else. So I can make this water look, smell and taste like whatever you want!" She said with a expansive gesture.

"Okay, how about red wine then?" Connie suggested looking sort of resigned like, 'okay things are just going to be weird now. Hazel nodded and moved the bottle of water behind her back for a second and when she brought it back out it was full of a red liquid. She passed it to Connie who smelled it, wide eyed and then took a sip.

"That's kind of amazing." She admitted and hazel looked thrilled and very flattered.

"Thank you, and it has practical uses too. While traveling and on quests food is usually sort of a issue and even though I can't make food that has any actually nutrients or anything this can still help. Now we can bring along things like hard tack that are nutritious and long lasting but not /good/ and I can make them taste like anything we want so no one gets sick of travel foods. It's great for moral." Hazel explained as Connie sipped the wine Hazel had 'made' for her.

"So this is still actually water so it won't get me tipsy or anything?" Connie asked Hazel who paused to think about it.

"I don't think so and if it feels like it is it's probably just a placebo affect because your body expects it to." Hazel decided and Connie nodded again.

"Well that's very interesting and I'm just not going to think about the implications of you being able to change peoples perceptions as you call it." Connie said and Hazel was about to reply before Nico stood up from the ground and dusted dirt off his pants, reaching back to tighten his ponytail.

"She's on her way, she'll be here in just a couple seconds." Nico said and Connie immediately looked like she was about to panic and glanced at the bottle of 'wine' as if considering chugging it before remembering it wouldn't get her tipsy and handing it back to Hazel instead. In her hand it immediately turned back to water and Connie stepped forward. At Nico's feat a crack opened in the ground and smoke began to bubble out of it, Nico stepped back to give the forming spirit room and in less then a minute Lyra's spectral figure was standing in front of them, smiling lovingly at her brother and mother.

"Hey Toby, hey mom." She said in the sort of wispy voice most f the dead had and gave her mother a uncertain smile.

"Lyra." Connie said breathlessly stepping forward before Toby pulled her back.

"You can't touch her, she's just a ghost remember?" Toby said and Connie nodded staring hard at Lyra to memorize her face.

"Yes, yes of course. How have you been Lyra? Are- are you happy were you are? Are you well?" Connie asked hopefully and Lyra smiled more warmly and nodded.

"Yes I am, it's beautiful where I am mom. I'm happy here, I'm safe. The only reason I wasn't at peace before was because I worried about you and toby but now Nico's helped me talk to both of you. How have you been? You're doing better now that dad's gone aren't you?" She asked hopefully and Connie nodded, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Yes, I'm doing much better. I-I felt so bad thinking both my babies were gone but now I know Toby's here and I'll see you again eventually won't I?" She asked and Lyra responded by glancing at Nico who nodded making Lyra beam as she looks back at Connie.

"Nico knows and he says yes, yes we'll be together eventually." Lyra said though her gaze flicked to toby for a moment and she looked sad. Toby looked away, he was the only one who would be left out of that family reunion, he'd be with their father in punishment if Nico couldn't do something.

Both toby and Connie spent the next half hour catching Lyra up on how they'd been before Lyra informed them that she could feel Nico tiring and they couldn't talk much longer.

"Well, I love you Lyra. It's been so good to see you and know you're doing well, I feel.. so much better." Connie said choking up as tears spilled down her cheeks. Toby wrapped a arm around her shoulders, he was taller then her now, he'd gotten broader too now that he was fully mature.

"I love you too mom, I'll see you again. Toby I love you too, good luck, Nico good luck too." Lyra said and then she was gone and Connie started sobbing. She hugged Toby first and then surprised everyone by pulling Nico into a tight hug.

"Thank you, that meant, so much to me. You let me talk to my girl and you're trying to save my boy. I'm so glad Toby found you." She said fiercely as Nico awkwardly patted her back.

"I love Toby, I'll do everything I can to protect him I promised you that the first time we met." Nico pointed out softly seeming awkward with the contact. He'd been with toby for a few years now but he was still not used to affection from anyone other then Toby, Hazel and Sally.

"You can do it, I know you can. You're part of the family now, you're like my son now too," She told him leaving no room for debate and Nico found he didn't want to because he was choked up too. Was this what it felt like to have a mother? he'd have to visit Connie more often. He relaxed as Toby joined to make it a group hug and they stood there like that for a long and comforting minute.

* * *

I haven't written in a long time so be forgiving if it's a bit sloppy, also I can't figure out where creepypasta is in the system. I have a ask blog for the characters in this universe; cats-ask-blog on tumblr


	2. We'll Make it Work

Even though Nico enjoyed the hug he couldn't stand the touch for to long because he still wasn't used to or very comfortable with it. He pulled away from the hug but kept ahold of Toby's hand as a sign of affection and to ground himself after having used shadow travel to bring himself and Hazel here and then supporting Lyra.

"So do you two want to spend some more time to do or should I take Toby home now?" Nico asked and felt a little bad when he noticed Connie flinch, it must still be hard to think of Toby making a home somewhere else without her. Even though Toby was a adult and would have moved out by now anyway it must linger that he left so early.

"Oh can't you stay for a bit longer? Let me take you all out for dinner, Hazel you too. Since Nico's my future son in law you're my future daughter in law and I should get to know you too." Connie said looking around at all of them, the frank talk of Toby and Nico getting married makes both of them blush.

"Mom! We haven't.. I haven't! There are no rings or any-" Toby stuttered and Connie hushed him laughingly.

"I know sweetpea I'm teasing. But I am seriously inviting you all for dinner if you want." She said looking at Toby who looked to Nico who shrugged and looked to Hazel who was doing the face fanning thing she tended to do when flustered. She'd taken Nico being gay pretty well but sometimes things still made her uncomfortable.

"Oh okay." She said in a slightly higher voice then usual though Nico was sure she'd calm down soon.

"Wonderful! Do you want to go out or back to my apartment for some home cooking? That'll take a bit longer so I guess it depends how long you have." Connie asked this time looking at Nico since he's probably the deciding factor here. Nico shakes his head regretfully.

"Sorry, I've been doing a bit more to umm.. help my father out lately and I have some more "errands" tonight so out would be better." Nico caught Toby looking at him in a worried way but he tried to ignore it, he knew Toby was worried but he was doing this for him. It was harder to ignore when both Connie and Hazel also looked at him in the same way but all it triggered was Nico to through up his walls again.

Toby must have noticed when Nico's eyes blackened and become a lot more soulless then usual as Nico shut himself down a bit. "Alright well lets go somewhere cheepish then so we don't brake the bank for you mom." He said quickly to draw attention away from Nico and Connie was easily distracted, smiling readily at Toby.

"Sure that sounds good honey, now can you lead us back out of the woods? I don't really know where we are honestly." She said making Toby laugh and he nods taking Connie's hand and starting to lead the way. Behind him he saw Havel link her arm with Nico's to accompany him as well just to keep him company and smiles, he was glad Nico had a sister again. At first he'd been jealous that Nico still had at least one sister but they'd both lost one and Nico needs Hazel especially now that toby has a mom again.

They get back to the road with no problem and come out a little bit further down from the car. When they reach the car Toby hesitates, not sure he wants to sit in the front with his mom or in the back with Nico but if that were the case he'd have to leave Hazel in the front and since she and Connie just met each other that would probably be awkward. He sighed and gets in the front next to his mom leaving the back to Nico and Hazel, Connie seemed to notice.

"Oh sad to be next to your mom and longing for your boyfriend." Connie teased nudging Toby's shoulder making him chuckle nervously and twitch. He'd been told when he was younger that turrets often faded or at least became less obvious with age and for him it's finally happening. Not that he's getting over it and he still twitches but less then he did when he was a kid which is very nice indeed.

"No not at all mom!" He promised and Connie chuckled a little smiling at Toby in a way that made it clear she'd been joking.

"I got a ipod jack finally, why don't you share some of your music with me?" She suggested gesturing at he cord. Toby hesitated, a lot of the music he had on his ipod were things he didn't really know if his mother would like so he glanced back at Nico for guidance.

"She might like Imagine Dragons, they're pretty good." Nico commented from the back seat and Toby nodded.

"Oh ya that's a good ne, thanks Nico." He agreed easily and hooked up his ipod to play the music which is some of the prettier more positive stuff on there. From the back seat Toby could faintly hear Nico singing along, if Toby were back there with him he would have leaned his head on Nico's shoulder to hear better. He wished Nico would sing louder but he also knew that Nico wouldn't sing louder even when he was asked to. Toby was never really sure if it was because of self-consciousness or because of the lingering pain that still flared in Nico's throat sometimes but either way Nico's voice seemed to have a rather low volume cap.

The person in the car who ended up enjoying the music least was Hazel, she wasn't used to a lot of things in this era and music was one of them. Swing music was risky for her most things more modern bothered her. Looking at Hazel Toby understood much better why Hades had chosen to destroy Nico's memories before displacing him in time, it looked like with full memories it was harder to adjust. Still with help she was doing pretty well and she didn't actually say anything about the music.

They pulled up in front of a Denny's and Toby grinned happily, "Hell ya breakfast food! Good choice mom!" He cheered and Connie grinned at him.

"Well it's nice to know I still know what you like." She commented as they all piled out of the car and headed towards the dinner. As soon as he got the chance Toby got the chance he grabbed Nico's hand. Knowing that Nico planned on going off that night to do something made Toby nervous because there was never any real idea how long it would take. Besides his fathers 'errands' were always dangerous so what if Nico didn't come back at all? That thought was terrifying and Toby couldn't help but think that if they weren't sure they'd get the afterlife together they should spend as much time together in this life as they could.

As they sat down both Connie and Hazel seemed to recognize their desire to be close to be next to each other so the two woman sat on the same side of the table allowing Nico and Toby to maintain contact. Though Nico allowed the contact Toby could tell he was a little distance, thoughts somewhere else, which only made Toby cling more. He'd always been a anxious person under his energetic exterior and lately he'd been even more anxious then usual.

He squeezed Nico's hand to get his attention and then gave him a little smile which Nico did return at least. Nico picks a his food but doesn't eat a lot of it, he still didn't do well with warm food and maybe Toby should have thought of that but it was to late now.

When Toby was done eating Nico stood up, "We should go now. I need to take Hazel home too and I should nap before I have to go tonight." He announced and Hazel nodded, looking worried and standing. Connie stood to picking up on the worry and projecting it as well.

"Hey Nico? Look after yourself please, there are plenty of people in this world who care a lot about you and aren't ready to see you go to father yet." Hazel told him softly and Nico gave her a little smile.

"Don't worry, me and dad aren't on the best terms right now and I haven't gotten everything I want to do done yet." He said and Hazel gave him a exasperated and affectionate.

"With hundreds of years I still don't think you'd get everything you want to do done." She told him and next to him Toby felt Nico give a little shiver.

"Gods I hope not, I don't want that long." He said softly like a prayer and Toby wrapped a arm protectively around Nico's shoulders. Nico was smaller and younger yet so much stronger then Toby, he knew the weight of the world was on Nico's deceptively frail shoulders and he wished he could take some of it for him.

Nico lead the way outside and let Toby say his goodbyes to his mother before he took both Toby's and Hazels hands. Toby closed his eyes before they were dragged into the chilled shadowy world Nico was to at home in. They dropped Hazel off in New Rome and then went home to the mansion.

As soon as they landed Toby wrapped his arm around Nico's waist to help support him and Nico leaned against him. Curly hair fell into Nico's eyes as he looked down and away from Toby, probably to try and hide the fact that he was paler then usual and the bags under his eyes were back. For a while he had been looking better, almost recovered from the thing in tartarus but recently it seemed like maybe stress was making it worse again.

"So bed now? If you're working tonight you should get some rest first." Toby suggested, trying to act casual though his worry slipped through a little. Nico nodded and so Toby helped him up to their shared bedroom trying to avoid any of the creeps who might delay them and rob Nico of a few precious minutes of sleep. They settled down in bed once they'd changed into comfortable clothes and Nico curled into Toby's arms.

"Nico?" Toby asked and was answered by a questioning hum, "When are you going to talk to me about what's bothering you? I think I know what it's about anyway. Please, I'm here for you." Toby said softly and felt Nico tense in his arms and then relax again.

"I know you're here for me Toby, we're here for each other. You don't have to worry though, I'm used to dealing with the underworld stuff on my own, I know it's sort of weird. It's nothing really but I don't think you'd be able to help so there's no reason to burden you with it." Nico explained softly.

"Well maybe just talking about it would help? Thinking out loud?" Toby suggested trying not to sound desperate. "It's taking up so much of your life lately and I don't want to be shut out of it."

"Alright." Nico sighs closing his eyes, "I'll talk to you about it.. sometime soon. But I want to sleep now."

Toby nodded, "Of course, sweet dreams, I love you." he said softly because Nico did really need his sleep.

"I love you too." Nico mumbled and then was asleep quickly.

When Toby woke up in the middle of the night it was because the bed was cool, Nico hadn't woken up before he left. Toby got out of bed and wandered out of the house absently in his bare feet, maybe it was chilly but he didn't feel it so it didn't matter. He's looking.. looking.. looking for Nico probably despite knowing he won't find him, it didn't matter cause there was no way Toby could sleep.

At dawn he felt something else, a sort of rolling in the earth that he had felt before but only once when Hazel and Nico had been fighting and lost control. The earth around them had moved like it was alive and couldn't decide who to side with, a child who's parents were fighting. It was doing that again.

Toby scrambled out of bed right away and decided the door down the stairs to the outside was to far so instead he bolted out the window. He ran over the rooftop and leaped off, hitting the ground and rolling the way Masky had taught him to to avoid hurting his ankles so often. He came up running and sprinted towards the place he could feel Nico's energy coming from, stumbling as the ground shifted under him but not stopping. He wasn't sure what it was that had upset Nico so much but Toby had to be there for him right now.

He skidded to a halt in a clearing once he saw Nico and took stalk of the situation. Nico was standing across from a tall man who was paler then Nico but had the same dark eyes as him, his father Hades. Toby swallowed hard, he'd never actually come face to face with the lord of the underworld before and here he was in Slendermans woods, fighting with his son. It didn't look like any blows had been exchanged or anything but around them bones had come to the surface and all the grass had died, even some of the trees on the edges were withering which was something Toby had never seen Nico do before.

"What happened to wanting me to be happy!?" Nico screeched at his father, fists clenched and eyes black as coal, absorbing all light and reflecting nothing. He hadn't noticed that Toby was even there, so caught up in the moment. "'Even if it's Toby that makes me happy." That's exactly what you said so why are you trying to separate us now!? YOU PROMISED."

"I'm not trying to take him away from you!" Hades snapped back, obviously working hard to control himself, there was a controlled anger on his face that made his face look tight and Toby was afraid he might snap any second. "I've told you exactly what you can do to save him. As a hero you should be willing to sacrifice for the one you love."

"Don't give me the noble hero crap! I've nearly killed myself in your serves of you and the other gids and you KNOW I deserve a brake. Besides you promised me a place at the foot of your throan when I died so either way you're braking your word." Nico accused and Hade's jaw clenched, muscles working under his skin as he took a deep breath.

"I promised a place for you but not for him, I am not braking my word." Hades said softly and Nico didn't seem to have a answer to that, there were tears in his eyes but Toby knew that if he touched Nico now he might die. Nico had a tendency to lose control when he was emotional. "I'm sorry but it's a choice you have to make."

"Only because you say so. Half of my deed should be enough to outweigh what he's done wrong. Hell I'd give all of them to him to end up in Asphodel together, it doesn't even have to be the gardens." Nico said more softly hugging himself and Hades was forced to look away.

"I'm sorry." He said again and then he was gone from the clearing leaving everything dead except Nico standing in the middle of it who immediately sat down, a throne of bones forming from the wreckage behind him as he went down so he ends up sitting in it. He pulled out a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lit it, taking a long drag and exhaling it slowly tilting his head back to watch the smoke dissolve into the sky.

Determining it was safe now Toby approached and knelt down in front of Nicos makeshift throne. He could think of nothing to say so he said nothing and when Nico looked down and saw Toby there he reached out to play with Toby's hair. Toby caught Nico's hand and kissed it, usually that made Nico smile but tonight there was only the slightest play of emotion on his face and at least half of it was pain.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." He said softly, "Father was trying to get rid of me by pushing me back here but I wasn't done and managed to drag him back with me." He paused and looked around letting out a long sigh, "I'll have to apologize to Slender and the other creeps for the mess, did th earthquake reach the house?" Toby nodded and Nico sighed again. "Wonderful." He muttered and leaned forward to cradle his head in his hands.

Toby leaned forward and hugged him tightly not caring that the smoke from his cigarette filled his nose. "It's not your fault, and I don't want you to sacrifice anything for me, I'm not worth it."

"Don't be silly you're worth everything to me." Nico murmured hugging Toby back slowly

"Then at least let me support you, talk to me. Tell me what's going on." Toby pleaded softly pulling back enough to look at Nico with those soft brown eyes Nico had a hard time resisting. Nico pulled back and sat back taking another long drag of the toxic yet calming smoke and exhaled as he thought, well Toby already knew more then he would like might as well bring him in.

"Okay, but not here, I want to get away from this place right now." Nico said and stood, Toby nodded and stood too taking Nico's free hand so he could take them wherever you wanted. Toby squeezed his eyes shut and there was a rush of cold and whispers, when it ended he opened his eyes and gasped. They were on the side of a mountain looking out over a long distance; lights of houses mimicked the stars above in the clear night sky.

"I thought mountains weren't safe for you?" Toby asked looking over at Nico who'd already sat down on a rock outcrop and was relighting his smoke, the shadows had put it out.

"Don't worry about it, I'm stronger then the little mountain gods now so they won't bother us. I'm passed the most dangerous age for demigods, now that I'm past 16 it's likely I could live to be 30 or so. That's the funny thing with demigods, the older we get the longer our life expectancy gets. That's why I've been thinking about this stuff, at this point it might be likely that I outlive you naturally and I wanted to make sure that we'd be reunited. I thought it would be more simple then it's turned out to be."

"What happened?" Toby asked going to sit down next Nico on the rock waiting as Nico took another drag of his smoke which was already burning low.. In a mood like this he knew Nico would light a second from the first. It was sort of ironic that Nico had started smoking at the same time Masky quit. He'd probably taken the box that Masky had thrown out.

"I knew I wouldn't be going to any of the usual areas of the underworld, I'd be going to my fathers palace so I thought I could give all my good deeds to you, they'd be enough to outweigh your bad ones by a long shot and get you into the gardens where I could see you. There's precedent for that, even Hazel split her good deeds with her mother so her mother wouldn't be sent to punishment for helping awaken Gaia

"Especially since hades said he wanted me to be happy I thought it would be easy to get him to agree to it but obviously I was wrong. I think he's gotten used to having me on the surface to control the spirits and stuff here. He wants me to become a god, To most people this would be a no brainer, for most demigods it's the highest honour, the reward they hope for. If I become a god he assures me I'll be able to make you my immortal lover. It doesn't make sense immortal lovers are a lot harder to get the other gods to agree to, the only person I can think of off the top f my head was Cupids wife.

"It would be so much easier to let me get you into the gardens but Hades insists that's impossible. I don't understand. I've been looking forward to death, that peace for so long I can't just give it up. I will if I have too, I'd do anything for you but I can't give up, I have to fight I've been fighting for peace my whole life I can't keep going for eternity." Nico ranted. Finishing his first smoke and lighting a second as he spoke.

Toby wrapped a arm around him and just listened, he couldn't understand much of it if he was honest but what he'd thought was true. This was about him and trying to save him from the first of punishment, or hell or whatever. "Maybe being immortal wouldn't be to bad?" Toby asked, he had a lot of friends who were immortal after all, even if the other proxies, his adopted brothers were not.

"No." Nico said shaking his head. "I've already lost one sister I don't want to watch Hazel age and die, maybe her children grow old and die. Future siblings who aren't born yet grow old and die. Jason, Lou Ellan, Will, Annabeth, Even Percy. It was hard enough to get used to this time after being taken out of the 1940's. continuing on into the future.. I don't want to loose the world I know." Nico snuggled into Toby's side and Toby knew he was crying again but silently now.

"I'd rather suffer then you, you know that. And it sounds like being immortal would be your worst nightmare." Toby started but Nico shook his head violently.

"No it's my second worst nightmare, the first one is losing you." Nico said and Toby didn't know what to say, there was nothing he could do and there was no good way out of this. Now he knew why Nico had been so distant and distressed for the last little while. "I've been trying to be helpful to endeer myself to my father to get him to change his mind but it seems to only have made him more sure that he needs me here and can't let me die properly." Nico half whispered and Toby bit his lip, to hard he tasted a little blood.

"I'm sorry, you would have been better falling for anyone else." Toby said softly and Nico shrugged.

"We were destiny, Aphrodite herself confirmed it, you are my other half and I am yours. That's all there is to it." Nico said and Toby nodded, he remembered that, it had silenced Hazels insistence that Nico should find another partner at least.

"That's all there is to it, we'll have to make it work." Toby agreed apologetically.

"And somehow we will." Nico promised and sat up to kiss Toby, his lips tasted like ash and tears but Toby kissed him back with all the love and passion he could manage.


End file.
